Monday, February 16, 2009

LIFE OF MY FATHER - 4

HOMESTEADING IN FORT SASKATCHEWAN

My grandfather, Albert Darimont, had served with the Belgian army in the Congo for two years when, in 1905, he was invalided home with sun stroke after spending too long in the sun at the funeral of a friend who died of snakebite. The funeral had to be held immediately because of the intense heat.

He visited the family in Fort Saskatchewan and, according to his daughter Jacqueline, fell in love with Canada, the prairies and farming. He returned to Belgium, married Therese Gustenhoven in 1909, and then joined the family at Fort Saskatchewan. The first and third photos are of my grandfather in his army uniform; the middle photo shows the family's home in Fort Saskatchewan in 1911.